White Crest expansion plan revs up

Thursday

Feb 22, 2018 at 11:58 AMFeb 22, 2018 at 2:11 PM

Editors Note: This is an updated version from the original print edition.

Edward Miller

WELLFLEET — The selectmen plan to ask Annual Town Meeting voters to approve the borrowing of $1.6 million for the expansion of the parking lot at White Crest Beach to accommodate 460 cars, Town Administrator Dan Hoort said in a Feb. 22 email. (Editor's note: The print edition of this week's Banner reports the number as 600 rather than 460 because it went to press before Hoort revised the figure. On Saturday he said the number would be 600.)

Meanwhile, a group of mostly nonresident activists are making their own plans to stop or amend the expansion proposal.

At an open-ended Q&A session at the library on Saturday, Hoort told the 15 or so people who joined him that if the article is approved, construction of the expanded lot would begin this fall.

Because the proposal involves borrowing, it will require a two-thirds majority vote at Town Meeting, which begins Monday, April 23.

“I’m not asking for a [Proposition 2½] override,” Hoort said. “I’m saying we can pay for this out of parking revenue.”

The White Crest lot currently has 225 spaces for vehicles. With the closing of the town parking lot at Cahoon Hollow Beach (see last week’s story on page 1), White Crest will be the only town-managed ocean beach where visitors can pay a daily parking fee, which was $20 last summer.

The selectmen reviewed a preliminary plan for the expansion of the White Crest lot on Dec. 12, according to minutes of that meeting. The plan had been prepared by David Michniewicz of Coastal Engineering, but was sent back to the drawing board for revisions and town officials did not keep a copy. This has become a sore point among those who are objecting to the expansion and demanding more information about it.

On Saturday Hoort expressed frustration with his inability to obtain a copy of the Coastal Engineering plan, in part due to Michniewicz being away from work because of illness.

“I’ve been asking Brian [Carlson] to call Coastal Engineering to get a copy of the plan,” Hoort said. “Brian’s been calling Dave. Dave is apparently back to work, but we’re not getting anywhere. I called him on the 14th, left a message, and he didn’t call back. On the 15th I left a nasty message. I got an email from Dave yesterday that he wants to talk to me before printing out the plan.”

On Tuesday, Hoort told the Banner that he expected to have a copy of the plan in hand “by the end of the day.” (Editor's note: Hoort's Feb. 22 email said he received the plans on Wednesday afternoon.)

Wayne Clough, who lives on Priscilla Road near White Crest Beach, asked Hoort whether the $1.6 million would include the cost of replacing the restroom facilities there or of establishing a shuttle service connecting to the other beaches along Ocean View Drive.

The restrooms would be included but not the shuttle, Hoort said.

“I have asked the board of selectmen to develop a townwide parking plan,” he said, “that would enable the coordination of all of our parking in town, including a shuttle.”

Opposition considers petition or lawyer

Opponents of the White Crest expansion have been busy working online to organize themselves and recruit support, including a potential citizens’ petition to place an article on the Town Meeting warrant requiring a parking and traffic study before construction begins.

Clough told the library group that “someone has to study how many people should be on the beach for safety purposes. Let’s say there’s four people per car. If you add 375 parking spaces that adds 1,200 people that lifeguards have to watch out there.”

Opponents are also discussing hiring a lawyer to represent them. Eric Bibler, one of the most active members of the online group, wrote on Feb. 13, “A number of people in this group, including me, have expressed the belief that because of the scope and complexity of this project, and its potential adverse impacts, it would be prudent to engage an attorney to help us understand the approval process, meet deadlines, advance lines of argument, and so forth…. At least one member of this group has already volunteered to be one of the formal clients represented by such counsel and I presume that others will be willing to join.”

Bibler, whose family owns property near White Crest Beach, also suggested, in a Feb. 14 email, that people who vote in other towns should change their registration to Wellfleet in order to be able to vote at Town Meeting.

“If this goes to town meeting,” he wrote, “everyone should know that it is very easy to change your voter registration to Wellfleet … and easy to change it back, at some future point. There is no law that says you can’t and it’s not hard to do.”

Bibler did not respond to phone messages left at his home in Weston, Conn.

Ocean View Drive safety

Other topics raised by those who came to the library session with Hoort on Saturday included the need for more police presence on Ocean View Drive in the summer and for safer bicycle and walking access to the beaches, and the possibility of reserving some spaces in the parking lots for town residents, as opposed to day-trippers and short-term visitors.

“I’m thinking [that] we’re increasing the size of the White Crest lot by 375 spaces,” Hoort said. “Maybe we take 200 of those and make it resident parking only up until one o’clock. After one we open those up. That gives somebody who just wants to go to the beach for a short time a better chance.”

Hoort also had an idea for making Ocean View Drive safer for cyclists and pedestrians, assuming that a separate bike and walking trail cannot be constructed.

“If you have no way to expand the roadway and you want to accommodate cars and bikes, why not make Ocean View Drive one way?” he asked. “I like the idea of thinking outside the box.”

Leasing to the Beachcomber?

Online statements that the town is considering leasing part of the White Crest parking lot to the Beachcomber restaurant are untrue, owner Todd LeBart told the Banner this week. He acknowledged, though, that he is considering an offer from the town to lease its Cahoon Hollow lot, which is now reduced to about 30 parking spaces because of erosion.

LeBart said no discussions about a possible lease agreement had yet taken place. “How much do they really expect to lease it for?” he asked. “They would expect us to pay for all of the beach services as well — portable toilets, trash pickup and so on. The only services they would provide would be lifeguards. They want to shift all the costs over to us.”

Hoort said Tuesday that he would be sending out a request for bids from potential leasers soon and speculated that “the Beachcomber would have the most interest.”

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